Rs 1 lakh cash reward announced for info on ATM attack accused

Bangalore: Police on Thursday announced Rs one lakh cash reward to the person who provides information about the suspect, who brutally assaulted a woman bank official with a machete at an unguarded ATM kiosk in Bangalore.

"We have announced Rs one lakh cash award for information leading to the arrest of the suspect," Joint Commissioner of Police BK Singh said, as the assailant is on the run two days after the brazen attack, caught on CCTV footage, sparking public outrage.

Asked about reports that the mobile which the assailant took away from the victim after leaving her in a pool of blood was traced to Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh, Singh said, "There is no truth in it."

An official of BGS Global Hospital, where the victim is recovering after being paralysed on her right side, meanwhile said, "She is recuperating, but will take some more time to fully recover."

The woman's skull was fractured in the attack and a small piece of bone had gone into the brain, causing a "penetrating injury" and she was paralyzed on her right side, according to doctors.

"We are closely monitoring her condition. She is able to speak," the hospital official said.

In the attack at the ATM kiosk near a police station in the heart of the city, the woman was repeatedly hit with the machete by the assailant, leaving her in a pool of blood for nearly three hours before two school children saw blood stains and informed a policeman who rushed her to the hospital. The assailant had attacked her after entering the ATM booth closely following her and downing the rolling shutter when she refused to draw money and hand it over to him.

After the attack, caught on CCTV, he had walked out of the kiosk downing the shutter and taking away her mobile, leaving the bleeding woman in a serious condition.

With the incident sparking nationwide outrage and concern over safety at ATMs, Karnataka government on Wednesday cracked the whip, telling banks that they should provide security or shutdown ATMs.